Stranger in Paradise

58.

The man was wearing very good clothes when he walked into Jesse’s office. White suit, black-and-white striped shirt, white tie. Everything fit him exactly. His black shoes gleamed with polish. He had a neat goatee and, disconcertingly amid all the grooming, a lot of long, black hair.

“My name is Louis Francisco,” he said.

“Jesse Stone.”

“I’m looking for my daughter.”

Jesse nodded.

“Do you know where she is?” Francisco said.

“I do.”

“Where?” Francisco said.

“I won’t say.”

“With you?” Francisco said.

“No.”

“She is a fourteen-year-old girl,” Francisco said.

Jesse could hear no accent of any kind in Francisco’s speech, neither ethnic nor regional. It was as if he’d been taught to speak by a radio announcer.

“She is safe,” Jesse said. “There’s a female police officer with her.”

“You’ve been kind to take her in,” Francisco said. “But I am her father.”

Jesse didn’t say anything.

“I’ve come to take her home,” Francisco said.

“She doesn’t want to go with you,” Jesse said.

“Many children defy their parents. It doesn’t mean they should be allowed to run wild.”

“You can’t have her,” Jesse said.

“You do not, I believe, have any legal authority to prevent me,” Francisco said.

Jesse nodded.

“Bring suit,” Jesse said. “We’ll run it through the courts.”

Francisco smiled pleasantly.

“Perhaps I will,” he said. “Do you happen to know a man named Wilson Cromartie?”

“I do,” Jesse said.

“Do you happen to know his whereabouts?”

“I don’t,” Jesse said.

“Or a young man named Esteban Carty?” Francisco said.

“We’ve never met,” Jesse said.

“Too bad,” Francisco said. “I can’t say you’ve been terribly helpful.”

“Gee,” Jesse said.

“Still, I believe we can manage without your help.”

“Is that the royal we?” Jesse said.

“I have a number of employees with me,” Francisco said.

“If you attempt to retrieve your daughter, I will arrest you,” Jesse said.

“My employees may protest,” Francisco said.

“If necessary,” Jesse said, “I’ll arrest them.”

“There are many ways to skin a cat,” Francisco said.

He stood up and stared at Jesse. Something changed in his eyes. It was like gazing suddenly into the soul of a snake.

“And,” Francisco said, “to skin you, motherfucker.”

His voice rasped when he said it. They looked at each other for a still moment.

Then Jesse said, “Ah, there you are.”